


A Crown for a Hero Cat

by relanah_qahs



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Midgar, Office Romance, Office drama, Origin Story, References to Final Fantasy XIV, Shinra, reeve builds cait sith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25240870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/relanah_qahs/pseuds/relanah_qahs
Summary: Reeve Tuesti is a loser. He gets no respect from his Shinra colleagues, he spends his weekends playing RPGs instead of socializing, and he’s too afraid to ask the pretty office assistant out on a date. One day, he gets the purple materia “Inspire” and uses it on his toy cat prototype. Through Cait Sith, Reeve will learn so much-- about Midgar, the truth of Shinra, and most important of all, himself.
Relationships: Cait Sith & Reeve Tuesti, Reeve Tuesti/Reeve Tuesti's Assistant
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. Loser Reeve

Reeve Tuesti felt so glum. Despite all his and the Urban Development team’s hard work for the past four months on the new subway line proposal, it was unceremoniously shut down. President Shinra couldn’t even be bothered to glance at the proposal document; he sharply told Reeve that there were no plans to expand Midgar--a new train would be unnecessary.

“But Mr. President,” Reeve had tried to protest. “The Sector 2 Undercity has seen an unprecedented increase in population density just in the last five years. This new line would do wonders in increasing commerce and quality of life for those who live there. As stated in the proposal document, there is a convenient spot for a new station and the railway can be built adjacent to the overpass that is already --”

“That’s enough, Mr. Tuesti.” President Shinra brought his cigar to his lips and blew a foul-smelling wind of smoke in Reeve’s face. “There are no plans to expand Midgar at this time.” The president gave a short chuckle and slowly turned his back to Reeve to look out the grand window that overlooked the city skyline.

The screeching voice of Scarlett, the head of Weapons Development, pierced his eardrums. “ _Kya ha ha!_ Can’t read the room, Reeve? No one cares about trivial things like quote-unquote improving quality of life for those slum dwellers. We here at Shinra have much bigger ambitions than to worry about the slum rats.”

“She’s right you know!” said Heideggar, a gross bearded fat man who was the head of the Shinra’s Department of Security. “Now run along! The grown-ups here are discussing important matters that don’t involve trains and slum mice! _Gya ha ha!_ ”

Reeve felt his shoulders drop and he released a deep sigh. He clutched the folder containing the proposal tightly and walked out of the room with his head low and feet slightly shuffling. He was defeated yet again. What would he tell his team? He dreaded telling them the bad news; to say they would be disappointed would be a massive understatement. So many hours were spent calculating costs and logistics, conducting interviews and focus groups with the Sector 2 residents, and writing draft after draft to make the proposal as perfect as it could possibly be. The document even had beautiful color-coded graphs to show the data! Reeve knew there was no way to make this right with the team. He braced himself for their reaction.

Reeve took a deep breath in to clear his head before opening the door to the Urban Development office. He could feel the employees' eyes burning into him with anticipation.

"Well, what's the word, boss?" said one suited male employee.

Reeve took a deep breath. "Well everyone, just let me take a moment to thank each and everyone of you for all your hard work on this proposal. Thank you for all the overtime and weekend hours and the mental energy it took to make this proposal flawless."

"So the president approved it?"

Reeve shifted nervously, "Well, You see..."

"It was rejected, wasn't it?" A murmur of grumbles filled the air.

Reeve dropped his shoulders in a sigh and looked down to the floor. “The president says there are no plans to expand Midgar at this time.”

Bryan, the executive manager of Urban Development, yelled, “What the hell, Tuesti? We were all counting on you! How could you screw this up so badly?”

Reeve willed himself to hide his embarrassment and failure to the cacophony of complaints from his angry colleagues.

_“What do you mean no plans to expand? What the hell did we waste all that time for?”_

_“I missed my daughter's ballet recital because of this project! She still hasn't forgiven me!”_

_“We may not even get paid for working those weekends! What am I supposed to tell my wife?”_

No matter how many empty words of reassurance Reeve could muster, the office was heavy with the air of anger and disappointment.

“Screw this!” said Bryan. “Let’s get out of here and enjoy our weekend early!”

“Yeah! Let’s go get hammered!” the senior copy editor shouted to the group. The office workers cheered and each employee gathered their bags and jackets and headed out the door.

“Wait!” Reeve tried to get their attention. “You can’t go drinking yet! You’re still on the clock! Guys wait!” But his words were ignored. The employees quickly fled the room to head towards a more cheerful environment such as the _Cosmo Bar_ in Sector 3. The room was now silent leaving only Reeve and his beautiful assistant Rita.

Rita slouched in her chair, her eyes to the floor.

“You’re not going to join them?” said Reeve.

“Well, I’m not really fond of company drinking parties.”

They sat in silence for a minute. Reeve mulled over the team’s reactions and words. He stood up and spoke to Rita, “You know what? Why don’t you start your weekend early too? Don’t worry, I’ll clock you out later.”

“Oh? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ll hold the fort here. I can handle everything on my own.” Reeve tried to force a smile but his heart wasn’t in it.

However, Rita’s smile was a genuine one. Her smiles always seemed to make Reeve’s heart skip a beat. “Ok, if you say so. Please don’t push yourself too hard, Sir. Have a good weekend!” She gathered her things, gave a soft smile and bow, and left him all alone in the empty office.

Despite his glum mood, Reeve pushed himself to organize files. He had neglected this task in order to give all his focus to the proposal. Since that particular job was no longer weighing on his soul, he could finally get his other work done. He spent the rest of the evening typing and filing reports until it was time to go home. He clocked himself out scanning his ID card at the front desk and, as promised, he scanned Rita’s ID card before carefully placing it back in the drawer of her desk. He rode the packed commuter train to his apartment in Sector 6 and willed himself to look forward to his weekend.

* * *

Once he got home, he poured himself a glass of white wine and booted up his gaming desktop. He connected to the Shintranet and logged into his _Echoes of Eorzea_ game. He selected his original character, a young human-like male with blue skin and a cat’s tail and ears named Balor Cian.

Reeve looked over his OC and sighed deeply. Balor Cian didn’t have to worry about terrible bosses. Balor Cian didn’t have to deal with ungrateful employees or awful Board Executives. Balor Cian wouldn’t be scared to ask a cute assistant on a date. No, Balor Cian was a badass who made the world a better place and was loved by all his friends.

Reeve had looked forward to spending his night escaping his sad reality and taking on the identity of an appreciated White Mage--but sadly the Shintranet strangers he played with had other plans. His party’s dungeon had many poison traps that the DPS and tank players seemed all too glad to step directly into. No matter how much he screamed into the party chat to tell them to stop stepping into poison immediately after being healed, they just wouldn’t listen. The party KO’d, and they all blamed Reeve for not healing them fast enough.

Reeve downed another glass of wine. Then another. He brought his forehead to his hands and let out a long exasperated sigh that he had been holding all day. He turned off the computer to ragequit the game and swiveled his office chair to look at his bookshelf.

On the top of the bookshelf was a stuffed black-and-white cat. Years ago, Reeve had designed, constructed, and programmed this toy cat as an experiment. But he could never set the AI programming to a point where he could be satisfied with it. The toy often ran into walls and other objects in its path. Reeve eventually scrapped that project with dismay and set the toy as a mere decoration in his game room. _Another failure of mine_ , thought Reeve. _Can I ever do anything right?_

Reeve needed to clear his head. A walk around the neighborhood would do him well. Perhaps looking at the urbanization he helped develop would lighten his mood a bit.

It was a chilled Autumn night on Midgar’s topside. Reeve huddled in his fleece coat and strolled along the neatly paved sidewalk; his steps illuminated by the bright pristine street lamps and store windows that dotted the path. He was the one who had designed and planned this particular neighborhood street. Each building and structure was neatly planted based on research data and Urban Planning Theory. Although, even he could admit that the artificial origins of this cityscape lacked the natural charm that was seen in the undercity slums.

Reeve gazed longingly at his main street before him--he hardly noticed the child sitting on the pavement until he nearly tripped over her.

“ _Hey watch it mister!_ ” The young girl, no older than ten or eleven years old, was squatting on a square of flat cardboard. Her sandy blonde hair was braided in messy pigtails, her nose dotted with freckles. Dozens of glowing materia were displayed in a semicircle around her. “I’m tryin’ to work here!”

“I’m sorry!” Reeve quickly stepped back with his hands in the air. “I’ll be more careful. What are you doing out here all by yourself? Do you even have a permit to sell materia here, child?”

“What? Are you a Shinra security officer or somethin’?”

“Well, no. Not exactly.”

“So are you gonna buy somethin’ or what? Don’t waste my time with all this stupid talk of permits or curfew hours and dumb stuff like that.”

Reeve crouched down in front of the girl and inspected the various colors of the materia--mostly greens, a few yellows, and one lonely purple. Each materia orb had a small post-it note with its classification scribbled in crayon stuck to it.  
 _FIRE: 2 STARS-- GOOD FOR COOKING._  
 _ICE: 1 STAR-- GOOD FOR DRINKS._  
 _SUBVERSION: 2 STARS-- GOOD FOR SLEEP._  
 _SKILL: GOOD FOR STUDYING._  
 _INSPIRE._

“Where did you get all this?” Reeve asked.

“I found them all along the slums, where no one else likes to walk around. Finders Keepers, y’know? My friend Old Nan classifies each of them. She’s real smart and she’s never wrong about materia.”

Reeve felt his heart drop. It was a shame that this young girl felt she needed to risk her life finding materia in monster-infested slums—then to risk getting arrested for selling them without a permit. The existence of the slums and the suffering of those who lived near them were a blight on the legacy of the shining city of Midgar. Reeve couldn’t deny it no matter how much his fellow Shinra employees feigned ignorance.

The purple materia, _INSPIRE_ , caught his eye. He had never heard of such a materia before. It would probably be better if unauthorized materia was kept safe under the authority of the Shinra Research Division.

“How much for this one?” Reeve picked up the purple orb.

“That will be two thousand gil please,” the girl declared.

“Hmmm. That’s a little difficult. You see, I’m actually a Shinra executive and I really can’t have unauthorized materia peddlers on our city streets, you know?”

“You’re lying!” The girl quickly rolled the materia close to her. Her eyes widened.

“I’m in charge of Urban Development, so I find out about all commercial crimes on the Plate. I have my employee badge with me if you want proof.”

“ _You scum!_ You Shinra dickheads are worse than dirt!”

“Now hold on,” Reeve smiled. “Let me make you a deal. If you give me a discount for this materia, say fifteen hundred gil, I’ll look the other way while you take all this materia back to the slums with you. After all, on this very street there is already a high-end materia shop. So you are just wasting your own time here. It will be much more valuable for you and everyone else if you only sell to the undercity community, no? So what do you say? Deal?”

The girl stared into his eyes, her eyebrows furrowed in rage. “Tch. Fine. You win, Shinra scum. Fifteen hundred it is.”

Reeve opened his wallet and counted the gil notes in front of her to fifteen hundred exactly. She quickly snatched it from his hands. She shoved the purple materia to him and quickly threw the remaining orbs into her ragged backpack.

“Thank you!” Reeve smiled, “Now be careful going home. And don’t talk to strangers!”

Reeve stood up, turned around and slowly walked to the end of the street to give the girl time to run away. She was already gone by the time he had reached the crosswalk.

He examined the glowing purple orb. _Inspire, hmm? What kind of power do you hold?_ With his mood now lifted and his curiosity piqued, Reeve walked home. He went back to the room with the bookshelf that held the defective robot cat.

Purple meant this was support materia. It shouldn’t be able to cause any destruction on its own--only enhance the user’s own attributes. He grabbed a leather glove from the desk drawer then carefully junctioned the materia into one of the studded holes. The orb shrank to the perfect fit, glowing against the black leather. Reeve carefully slid the glove onto his left hand and channeled his magic potential into the materia.

He didn’t feel any different. With support materia, such as HP Up, he could increase his energy. It would actually make him feel stronger and more focused. But now there was nothing. He was the same old Reeve. _The same loser Reeve. Loser Reeve who can’t get any respect from his boss or his colleagues. Loser Reeve who is too choco-chicken to ask a pretty girl on a date. Loser Reeve who can’t even make online friends. Loser Reeve who was swindled fifteen hundred gil by a kid for useless materia._

Reeve let out another huge sigh and poured himself another glass of-

_CRASH!_

The objects on his bookshelf scattered across the floor. Reeve was alert; adrenaline running, he anticipated an attacker. But there was no human criminal or ghostly monster in sight. Only the robot cat. Reeve’s eyes widened and he gasped. The cat stood up on its own! It brought its tiny paws to his head and shook side-to-side. Reeve could only stare.

He snapped out of his initial shock and cautiously approached the seemingly alive cat toy. He gulped, “Hello? Can you hear me?”

The cat seemed startled; it quickly held its green-eyed gaze on Reeve and froze. It blinked. Then finally, a high-pitched robotic voice replied back.

“Hello?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to unbiddenrhythm for coming up with the name Rita and letting me use her for this story!


	2. New Friend

Reeve was stunned. Was this some trick? A prank? A ghostly monster from mako-polluted alleyways? Reeve’s eyes were wide, his face tense, his jaw dropped in shock at the now talking cat toy. 

The cat spoke again, “What are you?” It tilted it’s small head to the side and its little green eyes stared right into Reeve’s soul.

“What am I?” said Reeve. “What are _you_? Where did you come from? What do you want?” 

The cat took a small step back and looked around at its surroundings among the mess of books and other toy figures Reeve collected. It looked down at its paws--small human-like hands covered in large white gloves. “What am _I_?” the cat seemed to ask itself. “What am I? I don’t know. Where did I come from? Well, I guess I came from up there,” The cat pointed up to the top of the bookshelf where it had sat since Reeve gave up on programming it. “And what do I want? Hmmm… That’s a good question. I don’t really know what I want. Hey, what about you? You’re a human, right?” 

Reeve slowly crouched down, meeting at eye level with the standing robot cat. “That’s right, I am a human. And you are a robot. That’s right, a robot I tried to program but failed. But now you’re talking--and walking” _Incredible_ , Reeve thought. _Is this because of the Inspire materia_? 

“Amazing!” the cat shouted with joy. “I can talk, I can walk!” It began to run around Reeve with its paws in the air. “Amazing, amazing! _Oof!_ ” It tripped over its feet and landed face-down on the floor. 

Still stunned, Reeve carefully helped the cat back up and into a seated position. “Thanks!” the cat smiled and held onto Reeve’s arm. He couldn’t help but to smile back. 

“This is absolutely incredible,” said Reeve staring excitedly down at the grinning robot. “Do you have a name, little one?”

“Nope!” The cat stood up on its feet, still holding onto Reeve, and looked around the room. “Ooh! What’s this?” It stepped over towards a small green rubber ball that had fallen off the bookshelf with him and started playfully batting it around. 

Reeve continued to stare, his mind still trying to comprehend the miracle he was currently witnessing. This toy cat had previously been deemed a failure. It couldn’t even meow or walk correctly. And now suddenly it was walking and talking? _This must be because of the materia_ , Reeve fiddled with the bracelet that had the _Inspire_ purple orb equipped. _Perhaps this could prove useful. I wonder what else this little kitten is capable of?_

“Hey you!” the cat called out, reeling Reeve out of his pondering. “You never told me _your_ name!”

“Oh, sorry you’re right,” Reeve chuckled. “My name is Reeve.”

“Okay, Reeve! Now catch!” The cat pushed the ball and rolled it towards Reeve.

Reeve smiled as he played ball with the cat. Occasionally the ball would roll slightly off its course, prompting the cat to bounce and scurry to catch it back. At one point, the ball rolled toward the bookshelf next to Reeve. The cat ran over to the bookshelf, but one of the small books caught its eye. It picked up the book and studied the cover.

“Hey Reeve,” said the cat, its eyes on Reeve’s as he held up the book for him to see. “What’s this?”

“Oh that? That’s a book. Do you want me to read it to you?” 

The book held a picture of a moogle and a sylph--a small green creature with wings made of leaves and a face that resembled a kitten’s. The title was _The Whimsical Adventures of Mog and Cait Sith_.

Reeve picked up the cat and took him over to his office chair and placed him on his lap, like he would a small child, and held the book in front of them. 

“This book right here was one of my favorites when I was a child,” said Reeve. He touched the cover and the happy memories of reading this book with his mother came flooding back to his mind. It had been years since he had read this book or even thought of the characters.

“Well let’s read it!” the cat excitedly opened to a page in the middle.

Reeve chuckled. “Now, now. Why don’t we start from the beginning.” Reeve proceeded to read the story to the little curious robot cat. The experience brought a sense of bittersweet nostalgia as he mimicked the same voices and tone his own parents would speak with when reading this story to him during his own childhood. Occasionally the cat would interrupt with questions and Reeve would patiently answer.

_Once upon a time, there was a tiny village hidden in an enchanted forest. The village was called Little Solace, and in it lived many different creatures--moogles, oglops, moombas, vanu-vanus, and sylphs._

_All of the creatures lived in harmony. They lived in tiny houses with farms that grew many vegetables. The creatures enjoyed farming and fishing during the day and holding potluck parties for dinner._

_The protector of Little Solace was the Thunder God Ramuh. Ramuh kept the village safe from the predator animals and the humans from outside the forest. The creatures loved Ramuh and always said a prayer of thanks to him at every potluck dinner. At every summer solstice, Ramuh would return to the village in his physical form. The villagers looked forward to Ramuh’s return all year long. They held a wonderful festival with feasts, dancing, and gifts for Ramuh and for each other._

_During one such festival, a young sylph named Cait Sith approached Ramuh._

_“Oh Lord Ramuh! I am so thankful for the safety of this village. But…”_

_“But what is it, my child?”_

_“I want to know what is outside the forest! These days, I feel myself about to burst because my curiosity has become unbearable! I want to see the ocean, the mountains, the desert, the crystal materia caves, and all the other wonders of the world!”_

_“Ho ho! That is a mighty dream, young Cait Sith. Do you know what dangers await outside the forest? There are big animals that will happily eat you for their snack. There are big fish that will swallow you whole. And there are dangerous humans who will hunt you down for sport.”_

_Cait Sith dropped his head in shame and disappointment. “Yes, I know it is dangerous out there. But no matter how much I tell myself it’s dangerous, my heart simply won’t cease its desires! Oh wise Ramuh, what shall I do?”_

_Ramuh was silent for a moment. Finally he smiled. “Young Cait Sith, you may travel outside the forest. You will be the world’s explorer and return to this village to tell everyone what lies beyond and show them the treasures you collected. Here, I will give you these presents. This is a crystal sword; use this and it will protect you from creatures who wish to do you harm. This is a flute; play the song from your heart and your magic will help you in your journey. And this is my materia. Wear this materia necklace, and you will know I am always with you no matter how far you travel.”_

_Ramuh gave Cait Sith a big hug--the biggest hug he had ever felt before. And with that, Cait Sith began to make his plans to leave for his adventure._

_The next morning just before the sunrise, Cait Sith left his house and made his way to Solace Hill which overlooked the village. He would say goodbye there and make his promise to return soon. But at the top of the village was his good friend Mog!_

_The young moogle also wore a red materia necklace. Mog held a small harp and a hammer. “Cait Sith! I’m glad I could find you before you left! Yesterday, Lord Ramuh gave me these wonderful gifts. He told me you wanted to travel the world. I said, ‘That’s ridiculous! He knows how dangerous the outside world is!’ But Lord Ramuh told me you will travel the world and return here with many gifts for the villagers. Then he told me I should join you! At first, I said no! Because I was so frightened, you see. But Lord Ramuh told me that you needed a friend to join you on your journey. He also said we shouldn’t be afraid because with this materia he will always be with us no matter how far we travel. So, here I am! I will join you on your journey and we will have each other.”_

_Cait Sith heart became so full of happiness he shed tears of joy. “Oh, my dear friend Mog! Thank you! You are a very brave moogle. I will keep you safe and we will see the world together!”_

_And with that, the curious sylph Cait Sith and his dear friend Mog the moogle ventured off into the world beyond Little Solace._

“Are sylphs real, Reeve?” the cat asked once Reeve had finished reading the first chapter to him. 

“No, sadly sylphs don’t exist in our world. Neither do moogles or any of the other creatures of Little Solace.” Reeve couldn’t help but sigh a little when he said this while he pet the cat’s head. 

“What about Lord Ramuh? Is he real?” 

“Well, that’s an interesting question. There are people who do believe that Ramuh is real and he is one of the many gods of our planet.”

“What about you? Do you believe in Ramuh?”

Reeve felt taken aback at the cat’s questioning. He had to think carefully about his answer. He closed the book and looked at the cover. The front cover was a picture of Cait Sith and Mog in a forest with Ramuh’s bearded silhouette above protecting them. Cait Sith held his sword in the air while Mog played his harp next to him. 

“You know, some days I believe Ramuh is real. But there are some days I don’t believe in any gods. When I was a kid, I used to believe Ramuh was real and that Cait Sith and Mog were real as well. I wanted to be a hero like Cait Sith and go on adventures like he did. But sadly, I never had a friend like Mog.”

The cat opened the book and looked through the pictures throughout the pages, each depicting all the different adventures the characters experience. An adventure on a cold snowy mountain, in a castle, on the beach, and others. “Reeve, why did you stop believing in them?”

Reeve thought for a moment, then began to tell his story. “Well, when I was a kid it was easy to believe in these stories. I liked reading very much. But it was hard for me to make friends with other children. I liked studying, so I excelled in school. In high school I was at the top of my class. But I mostly spent my weekends reading comics and fantasy novels. When I got to college I made some friends to play role-playing games with, but I mostly focused on studying. Then I went to grad school, then immediately went to work for the urban development department. I guess I stopped believing because I grew up. I realized the world isn’t simple like the one Cait Sith and Mog live in.” 

The cat closed the book and looked into Reeve’s eyes. “Growing up sounds tough, Reeve. Will I be so sad when I grow up too?”

Reeve couldn’t help but laugh at the cat’s unintentional roast. “You definitely don’t have to worry about growing up. You’re a robot so you can stay tiny forever.”

“Oh! I’m relieved!” The cat jumped off from Reeve’s lap with the book in its paws and went back to the bookshelf and retrieved the ball. 

Reeve pushed himself up from the chair and walked over to the cat. He felt so fascinated with how intelligent and curious this robot was. He felt slightly embarrassed and ashamed of revealing his soul to this robot. But then again, it was an emotionally taxing day; the proposal rejection, the conflict with his co-workers, meeting the girl from the slums, and now a magically talking cat who asked him about his life story. It was a lot to handle.

“You need a name, little one.” 

The cat perked up. “Oh really? Please! That would be wonderful! What should my name be?”

Reeve knew exactly what name would fit this little cat. “From now on, your name is Cait Sith. Cait Sith is a hero who shows kindness to everyone he meets. Those are wonderful traits for a good cat like you to live up to.”

The cat’s eyes widened in a bright smile. “Oh Reeve! Cait Sith! Cait Sith! My name is Cait Sith! Thank you, Reeve!” Cait Sith ran around circling Reeve’s feet. 

Reeve laughed joyfully. For the first time in a long time, longer than he could remember, he felt genuinely happy and optimistic for the future. His heart was nearly bursting with happiness as he hugged his new best friend Cait Sith. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> combining my two favorite games of all time FFVII and FFXIV :) this chapter definitely has some issues. for some reason I was having a really hard time getting this part written down. i'm working hard on the next parts. please look forward to the rest of this fic :)


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